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MONDAY, August 12, 2013 (HealthDay News) — Jules Weiss, a former medical emergency technician, was bitten by a poisonous Copperhead snake alongside the George Washington Parkway near the Potomac River.

She felt the sting and then noticed two fangs marks oozing liquid. Within an hour, her foot swelled to twice its size and began to change color.

Weiss drove herself to Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, where doctors injected her with four bags of anti-venom liquid over the course of 18 hours. An even bigger shock than the snake bite was the hospital bill for the anti-venom treatment, which totaled $55,000.

Unfortunately, Weiss doesn't have health insurance, but she stands by her decision to go to the hospital because the alternative could have been worse, according to a local NBC report.